A Brief History of Halloween

The Halloween traditions in America are well known and well celebrated since childhood: the costumes, the jack-o-lanterns, the trick or treating. However, this celebration and tradition is not celebrated that way everywhere. Many other countries have holidays with similar feels, or holidays around the same time, and while they may not be Halloween, you can feel the same spirit in them.

The Halloween that is celebrated here came over from Ireland. It evolved from an old Celtic celebration of Fall, and took influences from All Saints Day, or All Hallow’s Eve.  During the Protestant reformation, the celebration of Saints was frowned upon, and All Hallow’s Eve died out.

Catholic Ireland kept the tradition alive and brought it to America, where it has evolved into what we know today. We have leftover traditions from Irish folklore as well. Stingy Jack was a farmer who tricked the Devil up his tree, and refused to let him down until he promised never to let him into Hell. When he died, he was a sinner and couldn’t get into heaven, but couldn’t get into hell either. As such, he was forced to wander the earth without a place to rest, and carved out a turnip with an ember in it, to light the way. Because of this, he was known as Jack of the Lantern.

In England, Halloween died out, but a new fall festival came to light: Guy Fawkes Night on November 5th. Fawkes was the fall man for a failed gunpowder attack on Parliament. In today’s times it may seem odd to celebrate a failed terrorist, but the absence of Halloween put Guy Fawkes Night as the fall holiday to participate in.  It started to celebrate his execution, but changed into a celebration using bonfires to burn effigies, and children using the Guy effigies to get pennies, similar to trick or treating.

In Mexico and Latin America, they celebrate Dia de los Muertos, or Day of the Dead. It is an event that starts on the first of November, and it is used to honor the dead. In contrast to the American Halloween, which focuses on general ghosts and monsters, The Day of the Dead is meant to commemorate specific people who have passed away, and celebrate what they did with their lives.

People build altars to the dead, and decorate it with favorite flowers or foods of the deceased. Traditions include decorating graves as well as making sugar skulls, giving a somber theme a more festive approach.

China has a fall holiday called Zhongqiujie, or the Mid-Autumn Festival, which was used to commemorate the harvest. The date changes, because it is based on the Chinese calendar, but falls between late September and October. Customs for the holiday include eating mooncakes, a Chinese pastry, as well as admiring the fall moon. Lanterns are carried and flown while families get together to celebrate autumn.

America’s Halloween is unique, but countries around the world have fall festivals of their own. With the increasingly globalized world, we learn of the their traditions and they learn of ours, with some countries such as France and Japan that are beginning to take on a more American like Halloween. We have many reasons why we celebrate, from honoring the dead, to a good harvest, to putting on costumes and eating candy. Whatever the reason, this is the time to light up the night and have a good time.

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